The last 10 years have seen a tremendous increase in the demand for communications services, including both wired and wireless networks capable of handling data communications. Unlike real-time voice services, such as standard telephony or cellular wireless services, in which circuit-switched communications are used because of the sensitivity of users to the timing of oral dialogue/voice data, greater efficiencies can often be achieved in non-voice data communications through the use of packet-switched or hybrid communications systems. This is particularly the case with communications to remote users (e.g., persons sending messages via one of the well-known available wireless networks like GSM (Global System for Mobiles) or AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) cellular), where protracted circuit-switched sessions into a mail server or LAN (local area network) could be prohibitively expensive due to the high per-minute session charges by the wireless service provider.
One solution to this problem has been for users to limit, as much as feasible, their communications to sessionless communications. This can be done, e.g., by subscribing to additional email services that can receive LAN/WAN (wide area network) email and send out broadcast pages and transmissions to registered users, in lieu of requiring a user to maintain a session with a mail server. However, this disadvantageously requires subscription to an additional service, and is typically limited in the types of applications supported. With the rapid growth in emerging session-oriented applications--like the popular client server application of Lotus Notes.RTM.--the need is growing for more cost effective solutions to providing connectivity of such session-oriented applications and users remotely located from their host servers.
Regardless of whether a session-oriented or session-less communication service is used, it is also desirable to limit the amount of information communicated between a remote user and host, both to save off-site user's time and to limit the costs arising from the more expensive rates for remote communications. Unfortunately, typical applications like email do not provide for user-selected methods for choosing and limiting the volume of downloaded communications, or for filtering uploaded or downloaded communications. Thus, a user who wants to receive remote messaging is left with an option of receiving all his messages (or some summary thereof), even the ones he or she might otherwise be willing to leave unprocessed until a later time when no longer using expensive remote communications services. Further, many processes, like that of a typical email reply, are wasteful of bandwidth by resending all earlier messages each time a new reply is generated, even though the earlier messages may still be stored at both ends of the wireless network.
In addition to the above concerns over how to optimize the types and amount of data being transferred, there is additionally a problem in a lack of effective techniques for monitoring and even controlling an aggregate use of tariffed networks. While the network service providers have means for tracking use by an individual unit basis, which is totaled in periodic billing statements, this information is typically unavailable to users or their managers/application administrators. Thus, users and managers are typically left without any effective means for controlling the level of messaging during a billing cycle, and can only monitor or react to usage following the service providers periodic statements.
There remains therefore a need for an improved means for data communications that solves these and related problems.